They say the Kontinental Hockey League is the second best in the world.

That might be like asking for the second-most famous song by Little Eva, after “Locomotion.” There wasn’t one.

Ilya Kovalchuk just spent five years there. He scored goals for St. Petersburg SKA about as frequently as he did for the Atlanta Thrashers and the New Jersey Devils. He did win the championship twice. It is known as the Gagarin Cup. It’s not a reasonable facsimile.

“I made this decision because I want to win the Cup,” Kovalchuk said Saturday, no more identification required.

Kovalchuk signed a three-year, $18.75 million deal to play left wing for the Kings. It’s what Toronto gave Patrick Marleau last year. Marleau was 38, Kovalchuk 35. “A young 35,” Kovalchuk said.

Nobody interrupted a car chase to broadcast this news, but it might be more significant than we think. Kovalchuk was the MVP at the 2018 Olympics, although no active NHLers were involved, and won a gold medal.

“It’s no secret that we don’t score enough goals,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “Ever since Slava Voynov left, we haven’t had that guy who can be standing there waiting for his shot when Kopi (Anze Kopitar) comes off the wall. I can see Kovalchuk doing that. We’re ready to make some of that magic.”

Before the franchise packed up for Winnipeg, it lost Dany Heatley, Marc Savard and Marian Hossa, all of them vital helpers for Kovalchuk. Eventually Kovalchuk signed with New Jersey. He watched the Kings skate around Staples Center with the 2012 Stanley Cup, after he had scored one goal in those six games and was minus-3.

The KHL seasons are only 60 games long, and Kovalchuk averaged 24 goals there. He also became more of a playmaker, with 46 assists two years ago, only two off his NHL high. St. Petersburg, which also employs Voynov, was 48-8-6 last season.

“I think I have three or four years left in my tank,” Kovalchuk said. “I’m just looking forward to being with this team. Kopitar texted me right after I signed, and then several of the other players called or texted and asked if I needed any help with the move.”

Kovalchuk says the KHL is deep in “good young Russian players.” It uses the larger European ice surfaces.

There are about two dozen American players there at any one time, and most of them are bemused at some aspects of Russian life.

Ben Scrivens, the former Kings goalie, told NBC Sports.com that players are expected to bring a cake to the rink on their own birthdays, and that they are told to shake hands with all teammates every day at practice, which isn’t the most sanitary thing. Neither is the self-application of intravenous fluids, which happens with some of the poorer franchises.

Barys Astana, the KHL team in Kazakhstan, tried to reverse a slump by sacrificing a live sheep at practice. They don’t even do that in Dallas.

In L.A., Kovalchuk won’t need to sacrifice much.

“In the old days, your shot might be the first thing to go,” said John Anderson, who coached Kovalchuk in Atlanta. “Nowadays, with the way the sticks are, it might be the last thing to go. And his shot is difficult to pick up for the goaltenders. He’s got a way of shooting it that makes it almost act like a knuckleball.

“He was a 6-foot-3, 230-pound guy with speed and we asked him to do a lot of things. And he was a good teammate. I remember he brought his young daughter to the rink and he told me, ‘Ask her. She speaks better English than I do.’”

The curve in Kovalchuk’s stick was challenged by the Oilers one night, so he borrowed a stick from teammate Shean Donovan, scored with it, and then stopped by the Edmonton bench to do some barking in the universal language.

“It’s tough to learn when you’re young and you’re the best player on an expansion team,” said Shawn McEachern, a Thrashers teammate. “He was 18 years old as a rookie. It can hurt your development, but I thought he kept improving. In Toronto or Montreal, he would have been a really big star.”

Kovalchuk followed his friend Alex Ovechkin through this year’s Stanley Cup run and the hilarious debauchery that followed. “I think he is still celebrating,” Kovalchuk said.

Hockey and partying are possible anywhere. There’s only one Cup that lets everybody know your name.